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Chapter Eleven: Movement
The clouds were thick, dense, and gray; yet no rain had fallen, despite how they loomed overhead, bloated and saggy. The air was heavy and the wind had died down. A moving truck was parked outside of the Highland Estates. It was still early morning and pitch dark out. A pile of boxes were already lined up outside of the apartment. The movers were silent as they went in and out of the building, occasionally looking around suspiciously. They were quick to finish their work, and seemed eager to part. Inside the nearly empty room, Ryan, Nalani, and Akeia stood on the balcony, staring at the stagnant clouds. "I can't believe you're moving so suddenly. How did you plan all of this so soon?" Akeia asked, holding onto a cup of coffee. The Dark-Shades had brewed one final pot before packing it away. Most of the heavier things had already been taken by the movers. "This isn't my choice, my dad had it all planned out, since my grandma couldn't live there anymore...So I'm giving up his apartment here, and taking care of the mansion until he gets remarried or something." They stared out into the darkness, almost expecting to see stars, but all was hidden by the dense veil. One of the movers came up to the sliding door separating the balcony from the apartment and tapped on the glass. "Everything is in the truck, do you want us to go now?" The man asked, who was dark skinned, and quite tall. His eyes scanned the darkness carefully, as if expecting something to suddenly emerge. Ryan nodded slowly. "Ah, yes, and thanks for the help Mr. Karst. And, be careful alright? They're looking for you too. We'll come up after you in just a moment." Ryan replied, and the man nodded and dipped back into the apartment. "Wait a minute, who was that?" Akeia asked and Ryan smiled as he stared tiredly into the bottom of his empty mug. "He's actually a friend of Zach Carter, we met only once before during some school sponsored cookout... I recognized his name on that hit list, and decided to warn him. While I was at it, I asked if he could help me move. It's a pretty good deal too." He then turned to Nalani with a smile, who had been quiet the entire morning, her eyes slowly opening and closing. It didn't help that they had stayed up all night making the necessary arrangements. "What should I do? They're looking for me too..." Akeia trailed off, biting her lip. "If you want to, you could always spend some time in the mansion..." The girl nodded, and then shuddered, despite how humid it was outside. "I was going to return home for the summer...but I had this bad feeling that something was going to happen. Just like what happened before." She turned to him, but he averted his gaze, peering down at the ground below. "I wonder if we can leave? That feeling of not being able to escape...I don't think I'll ever forget it." He shook his head. "At least, don't stay here for me. If you want to go, then you should. You should always do what you want first." She gave him a soft smile, before moving back into the apartment. "That sounds like something you'd say. But do you truly believe it?" She asked, moving back into the apartment. He watched her for a moment, his brow furrowing, until Nalani caught his eye. "Can we go now? I'm tired." She said sleepily. "Of course, sis, we'll drive out there now." He reassured, giving one last look up at the dim gray sky. The day felt weak, as if it had gotten as much sleep as they had. It was a rather far distance to the mansion his family owned for a number of generations. While it was mostly empty now, some of his cousins still came and went from that place, occasionally staying for holidays, or on business. It made him sad, at how many of his relatives had moved away. They drove for a few minutes before passing into a truly old looking neighborhood. Set between a number of age-old buildings, was a worn down looking manor that had seen better days. The grass was a bit overgrown, and the trees in the yard seemed gnarled and aged. Already, the movers had begun to carry the boxes inside. "Wow! I didn't know your family owned such a place!" Akeia exclaimed, looking at the manor. "Ah...I've seen it before..." Nalani stated, waking up slighty at the sight of the timeless building. "Oh? Did you see it in my photo album?" Ryan asked and his sister nodded. "Is anyone there right now?" Akeia asked, getting out of the car. "No, it should be empty as far as I know." She smiled excitedly. "Come on! Let's take a look! I want to see what it's like inside!" She ran down the sidewalk, and Nalani hesitated for a moment. "It's okay. I'll be there shortly." Ryan said, finding himself staring longingly at his childhood home. The memories of this place...ah, those days were interesting, but brief. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he slowly strolled alongside the black metal fence. He stared at his old home for a long time, wondering if it had changed at all from the last time he had visited. The movers finished. "Ah, a job well done Mr. Karst." He said with a smile. "Thanks." The man replied in a deep, earthen voice. "Take care now, and be on the lookout for anyone suspicious." Ryan advised. The man nodded, and left with just a wave of his hand. Ryan watched at the truck drove off, and then listened as the silence filled the gap. Even in such a neighborhood like this, the people were quiet. After all, it is quite far away from the school. Most people who live out here are older. He felt extremely tired suddenly, and began to move towards the manor. The lowly gray clouds reminded him of a place he had never really left, and even as he stood on the threshold of two worlds, he remembered something obscure. It made him stop, with his hand just on the handle. "I see..." 'I know that I am smart. That is one thing about myself that I know is true. But I know that I am not good with knowledge or science. I can't solve mysteries...or puzzles...there is no practical use of my intelligence. Or, I suppose it's called 'wisdom' by some. It's that...I tend to see things in a different way. I can't describe it, but every once in a while, something clicks inside my head. It all makes sense. Not how the world works as others understand it, but how the world works as I perceive it. It feels like I decided to give myself a piece of information that wasn't there before. It makes me feel less like this person I've created, and more like, who I really am. The piece of information he had just retrieved, was actually from a couple of years ago, when he was reunited with his high school friend, Zach Carter. It was strange how they had just seemingly bumped into each other randomly at a community college before transferring to the University. They would bounce ideas off each other, and they really talked a lot more than they did in high school. Still, he had learned to become suspicious of everyone, and what some would call a wild coincidence, he theorized was actually a connected web of events. His eyes were set on the bigger picture. He became Ryan Dark-Shades for the purpose of seeing that which wasn't meant to be seen, and as a result, his world changed. It was Zach who had asked him, "What do you think the world would be like if we all had superpowers...?" And he had responded negatively. "I think the world would dive into madness, all order would be destroyed, and then, pain and suffering. Essentially, a terrible place." Ryan felt that the world was dark enough, adding powers would only elevate what was occurring right before him. Only to realize it now that Zach's idea of a world filled with supernatural powers wasn't just a thought, it had transcended into reality. So his mind became filled with questions, obscure questions. 'Who is the artificer of the powers? Why did he try to give me a power? What if Zach subconsciously became the initiator...no, that can be right, Akeia was able to see the future three years ago. But what if he created it before? But, there's no way he could've known Akeia, she spent most of her life in Canada. So, is there someone else? What about the echo? I'm too tired for this...but, who suspects me of having a power? The most likely person to think that would be-- The door opened slowly. It was Nalani who was looking at him nervously. "Come inside, you're tired. You need to sleep." She insisted pulling him inside. "What were you doing out there? Trying to leave all the unpacking to us?" Akeia said from the stairway. 'As always, when I'm just on the cusp of a revelation...an interruption...' He smiled as he stood in the entrance, and the musky smell of the mansion filled his nose. The scent carried him back to a time he had nearly forgotten. Already, his grandmother had left the living room the same. The old grand piano was next to the window. The frayed, ornate rug was still collecting dust, and the old leather couch remained unmoved from the far wall. Directly before him was the staircase, leading straight up to the second floor, where his bedroom used to be. To his left was the kitchen, still decorated with the faded wallpaper, and some of his aunts' old cookware remained stashed away in the white cupboards. He moved through the rooms, examining everything as he passed by. Behind the kitchen was the dining room. He fingered the white lace tablecloth, and eyed the grandfather clock ticking away noisily in the background. Behind the staircase was the old pantry, a favorite hiding spot of his during games of hide and go seek. Akeia and Nalani hovered about him silent, and curious. They walked through the pantry, which gave access to the basement. He still shivered at the sight of the half-opened door, its threshold always shrouded in darkness. They circled around to the living room again, to the hall where the first floor bathroom was, and the study. Almost all the books had been taken, either by his cousins or his aunts, as they had moved. But still, his father's collection remained: a series of math and physics textbooks. Finally, he sighed. "Sorry...but I may need to sleep. You don't need to worry about unpacking. The rooms are already set up if you want to sleep yourselves." He said, returning to the stairs. "Are you alright?" Akeia asked as he slowly ascended, looking at the pictures hanging on the walls. "What? Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to rest." He reassured, entering his old room, and lying on the bed. It felt foreign at first, too big, or impersonal. He rolled over onto his side, and closed his eyes. Even if he tried to sleep, the echo would still haunt him, as it did every night. It was the place he had never left. It was odd, the few people he did meet while traversing the unchanging, cloudy world, never stayed longer than a day. If they were someone he knew, he'd try to tell them not to use their powers. He wasn't sure why, perhaps it was his own way of rebelling against the system. Were supernatural powers really a bad thing? He didn't think it was, but somehow he refuted what was developing right before him. He saw glimpses of other worlds when he was inside of the 'echo'. It all must have stemmed from the same source, a world that was oddly like his own, yet different. He had many theories about the 'source' world, but he didn't bother with them, because no matter how hard he tried, he could never visit them. In truth, he could only see them in various mirrors or windows, occupying translucent surfaces. These worlds were filled with similar faces, with different names, different roles, different lives. But he was always tired when he came to the Echo. In fact, he did most of his sleeping here. He always appeared in the same vacant hallway, just underneath his Japanese classroom. When someone else passed through this realm, he could feel them bringing their own worlds inside. They appeared for a time, but, for the most part, the echo was a vacant, isolated terminal. No matter who came through, the world never changed, it always reverted back to the way it was before they had appeared. He had come to that conclusion a few years ago. That some people, just weren't really people. Perhaps, they were constructs of some kind. That they didn't have a soul. That their sole purpose was to excite and agitate those around them. He felt that, considering the goodwill of others, there was no way so many bad things could happen without someone there to create those experiences. They were simply placeholders. There was one denizen of the Echo aside from himself. It was not a regular visitor, or a passing traveler. No, this place was her prison. He never saw her, but rather, felt her presence whenever he slept. She spoke to him through dreams, and during times when his consciousness was at its weakest. It seemed to be the only way she could communicate. And so over the course of a year or so, he had come to learn her story, as vaguely as it was told. If anything, she was the one who told him the darker truths of the world. * * * Almost an entire month had passed since the picnic, and summer was halfway over. For a while, it felt as if things were descending into chaos, but, all of a sudden, a curtain of apathy had fallen, and nothing exciting or abnormal had happened. Zach wanted to advance the unnamed league, but, there simply wasn't anything for them to do. Yes, they had super powers, but there was a definite lack of conflict that sort of denied the reason to have a 'league' in the first place. Slowly, but surely, a trickle of information came to him that had bothered him, and then slowly passed into mystery. The first piece was that, Ryan 'Dark-Shades' had not actually gone on vacation. He found this to be utterly bizarre, if not suspicious. Why would he lie about leaving? Why was he so elusive after the phantom hunt? These questions came to his mind first, until Lasr finished telling him the whole story. It had taken a while for the timid girl to actually unveil the entire scene--from the point where he appeared at Riverside, and then barged into a student's dorm, and took with him a bunch of power-related data. He had come to learn that the student's name was Erik Heiden, who had since been very hard to contact, and unlike Mr. Dark-Shades, Zach wasn't about to break into anyone's home, no matter how curious he was. Still, his attempt to contact his old friend became even harder, when Fitzgerald Karst informed him that the man had moved to his old home, some manor downtown, but didn't have the address on hand. Since it was obvious that his text messages and phone calls were being purposefully ignored, Zach decided that it would be pointless to continue trying, at least for a while. It irritated him immensely. Though to compensate, four new potential members had surfaced recently. Both Eliza and Lydia shared stories of having awakened to a hidden power, and were in the process of discerning what it was exactly. And more recently, Serah texted him, informing that both Kiki and Raye might have powers, but she didn't go into detail. The second piece of news that bothered him greatly, was the missing persons report that was filed recently. Kang Gum-Young was nowhere to be found. The official report stated that, he was last seen chasing someone down the street from the gym that he was employed to. The manager of the gym recalled that Kang never returned, and that in the back lot, evidence of his blood was found in a pool of water. It was suggested that he may have been attacked, but no further investigations were being conducted. Zach didn't know what was more disturbing. The fact that Kang was missing, or the fact that the police were basically, doing nothing about it. Even so. The business lounge had become a popular place to hangout, especially on such dreary days. It had become quite rainy, which was unusual for July. Whoever was available would come by, and they'd play a game, or go somewhere to eat, but it was all very... lazy. "So, you aren't happy with how things are?" Ix, a surprising visitor of the lounge, asked, and Zach leaned back in his chair with a yawn. "Maybe? I don't know...there's always something to do, but..." He trailed off, stretching out his arms. "Whether you actually do it or not, is another thing." She finished his thought, maintaining her monotonous, neutral self. He eyed her for a moment. "Well, it's still strange how all my friends have super powers, except for you. Isn't that a little suspicious?" He asked and she managed a smile. "It's just how it is." She replied. "Don't you have any passion?!" Zach exclaimed, sitting up suddenly, and the girl eyed him curiously. "Passion?" She questioned tilting her head to one side. "Ah...sometimes I wonder...if you're actually a robot." He stated, reaching out to poke her. "Well, I do care about some things." She replied, artfully avoiding his finger. After a while, Chisa showed up, dressed up quite formally at that. "Whoa, look at you!" Zach stated as she took a seat. "I just got back from a meeting, that's all. So, what are you guys talking about?" She asked, setting down her bag. "About how passionless I am, apparently." Ix replied. "Passionless...? Well, you seem to enjoy music, we were in the same piano class after all." Chisa informed. "Piano? Wow, that's pretty cool actually. Oh, by the way Chisa, have you developed a power at all?" He asked, and she fidgeted slightly, but then shook her head. "I don't think it's a good thing, these powers you speak of. You don't know where they come from, or...if you can even control someone who uses them poorly. It's not right." She replied. "But everyone I know, aside from that stupid Kang, is pretty cool with it. I don't think it's a problem at all." Chisa slowly stood up, picking up her pack, despite having just arrived. "I should probably go change, I'll be back later. But, I don't know. You should think about it." She stated, before walking off. Zach watched her go, unsure of what to think of her words. "She has a point you know." Ix stated, having begun to doodle on a notepad. "Oh yeah? What do you mean?" He tried to move to see what she was drawing, but she covered it up. "I mean, didn't you ever question it? If I woke up with strange powers running through me, I'd wonder where the hell it came from." She replied, and it had definitely occurred to Zach before. Where did the powers come from? Why wasn't the world suddenly erupting at this miraculous discovery? "Well yeah, that's true, but, it doesn't change the fact of it." The girl shrugged as she continued to draw. "And you have to also consider those who are powerless. Would they really want to live underneath people? Especially their friends." It was a strange thought to Zach. It didn't matter what your status was, or who you were, you shouldn't run from your friends. They were supposed to be there to support you, not intimidate you. "I suppose...but at this rate, it seems as if the powers are exclusive to this area. I mean, it hasn't been on the news, heck, Dysley could go running down to the news station and tell everyone we have powers and the whole world would erupt into chaos!" He said, smiling at the thought of his roommate posing in front of a TV camera. "I doubt that would happen." She said, closing the notepad and then standing up. "Huh, are you leaving? I think Serah and Vance are coming soon." Zach asked, checking his phone. "I have to go to an appointment. I'll see you online most likely." She said walking off. He watched her go, when he suddenly got a text message. It was from Ryan Dark-Shades, which made him suddenly sit up. 'That punk!' "FWD: Hey guys~ ^_^ long time no see! I just moved into my family's mansion soo...I was thinking of having some kind of party, since I missed your bbq and all. It'll be really fun, maybe this weekend? Hit me up! Invite your friends~" Zach could only shake his head. Sure, he'd go, but that punk was going to get it.